Bangladeshis fly home after Africa jobs ruse: IOM

The International Organisation for Migration said Friday it had helped repatriate 39 Bangladeshis who were trapped in Liberia after being lured to the African nation with a fake promise of jobs.

The men, who mainly came from rural areas, paid 3,000 to 5,000 dollars to agents who promised 500 to 700 dollar-a-month jobs in Liberia's allegedly emerging garments industry, the IOM said.

After flying from Dhaka last November they ended up in the remote Liberian town of Ganta, wedged on the West African country's border with Guinea, where they realised they were being cheated into doing menial odd jobs.

"There they found themselves in different forms of labour exploitation, the Liberian government intervened," said IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy.

"They had no passports or documents of course," he added. Some of the men said they had also been promised jobs further down the line in Europe.

"It's a another example of the diversity of human trafficking at a global level," Chauzy said.

Five Bangladeshis and a Liberian were arrested by Liberian authorities on charges of human trafficking after a tip-off from local residents.

After receiving aid in a government shelter in the Liberian capital Monrovia, the 39 men flew home on June 1.